Existing products and techniques are available for preventing the unauthorized distribution or copying of software products, such as computer programs. Various types of locking schemes using software locks and/or hardware locks prevent users from making unauthorized copies of an application program. Such locking schemes are useful for both released application programs (i.e., available for purchase by the general public) as well as unreleased application programs, such as alpha and beta versions of an application program.
However, these locking schemes do not prevent a user from distributing information about the application program, such as copies of screen images generated by the application program (commonly referred to as “screen shots”). Companies developing new application programs may desire to protect their screen shots prior to release of the program to avoid giving competitors a “head-start” in creating a similar application program. Although alpha and beta testers of an application program often sign an agreement not to disclose information about the application program being tested (including screen shots), existing locking schemes do not prevent a user of the application program from distributing screen shots via the Internet or any other communication channel. Further, these locking schemes do not provide a mechanism for determining which user was responsible for distributing one or more screen shots in violation of an agreement not to distribute such information.
It is therefore desirable to provide a system that allows an organization developing an application program to determine the user or entity responsible for unauthorized distribution of screen shots.